The smell of dust, flower petals, and freshly cut wood spread.

Meiqi and Zhengqi started their task again with fervor.

They both gave a bow to a slightly stunned Hao, Meiqi grabbing the sheet again, moving at double the speed she was before. Zhengqi followed her lead.

The sound of the axe splitting wood was at lightning’s pace compared to before. Crack, crack, crack, the sound at least three times as fast as before.

She must have heard it all. Hao thought, even the shyer, almost timid Zhengqi flinched at Hao’s careful words.

They went by Hao. He was a ghost to their urgency, shoes, and stone tiles rubbing.

As Meiqi pulled the sheet into the center of the courtyard, Zhengqi loaded up some wood in a bucket—it was as big as the well. The bucket’s rim was twice the size of her waist. She lifted it with a small fight; her robe sticking down to her skin from the forming sweat.

Zhengqi tossed the wood onto the sheet, dropping the bucket. The two of them carried the sheet together.

Hao took note of where they went, and curiosity made him take a peek. Behind the row of buildings, the row where the first one was the room he slept in, was a hardly notable structure. It was before the wall of the cliff to the left of the courtyard, but far enough back to be easily forgotten.

Some type of cobblestone platform, nearly flush to the ground. That was all he could see from there.

The two women lifted one side of the sheet, throwing everything off it while standing on the stones. Trash and wood fell, dipping below Hao’s line of sight.

The two walked back, passing Hao. They lowered their head still respectful as they passed holding serious looks on their fair faces.

I’ll never get used to that, will I? At least they aren’t bowing as they walk by.

Hao could not help but watch them even after the two passed. They were shorter than he remembered, their gait hurried but graceful.

They repeated their actions. Meiqi opened the door to the next room with the sheet in hand.

Hao could see Zhengqi cutting wood again. He could still see details from where he currently was—his senses were growing faster than him.

Zhengqi’s robe was sticking to her as she worked; more sweat was forming. Her breathing hastened with each swing. The sun was warmer than anyone would like unless they were planning to cook without a fire. It was cruel to a person who had to work, cruel to almost everyone.

The straps on her robe became loose as she slowed down, her swings growing sloppy, her robe thin as they got wet.

Hao had to pull his eyes away. The sight grasped him in the wrong way. He wondered if other men on the Island would look at his mother in the same way while she was suffering work in the heat.

His looking away did not stop him from knowing their work. What he could not see, he could hear; the sound of wood cracking. Vases and cups clinking together, and the liquids being poured out, spilling to a clap on the ground. The shuffle of the sheet in the wind, trying to push it. Sounds of items rubbing the threads of cloth.

He tried to push all of that out, trying to close his ears. That only made things worse as they thought of them more, comparing them to others he knew.

They are willing to hurry for me. Would anyone on the Island accept me after I’ve taken human life? The thought was invasive. His mind was not yet as free as his senses.

Hao’s attention was pulled back when he heard a shuffle of feet and the soft voices nearby.

The two of them were just finishing another round of gathering and were coming to the front of the building before the corner turn.

“We will need extra wood for the fire. We need some to heat the room, too.” Meiqi’s voice. Her teacher’s voice, perhaps her mother’s voice if she spoke to Zhengqi in it.

It pulled Hao from his stupor. He felt ashamed; They were doing more for his sake, faster for his sake. They walked by as respectfully as before. Hao could not help but look at their gait again, forcing his eyes on the sheet.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

This shouldn’t be happening. Hao thought.

They dumped everything and started walking back, Zhengqi in front, Meiqi just behind—The sheet dragging behind her.

Hao watched another drop of sweat roll down Zhengqi, the top of her robe now slightly parted.

He had to shake himself, turning his head away. Meiqi watched with a cheeky smile. Hao, for the first time this year, felt the real heat of summer.

All the beatings from his Islander roots rose within him. A place where the chief had to bow to his wife, and even she worked hard.

Still, Hao could not help but look at them. They ticked many of the boxes he was raised to look for on the Island. It was his father who taught him as such. It made him wince thinking of his mother’s hands—dry, splintered, callused—his thumbs ran over his fingers one at a time, they were soft, his stomach curled for a moment.

It was not just his father’s opinion; it was the beauty standard of the Islands.

Hardworking women were foremost considered attractive. The life of a couple on the island was simple; the husbands caught the fish, while the wives prepared yesterday’s catch and tended to the kids and village. Next was a serious outlook and an ambitious heart.

The two of them were also attractive compared to the women on the Island he knew, mostly elders and married women. There were not many people his age on the island. Only three years older and two years younger. He was born at a time when Islanders were not supposed to have kids, another reason to shun him.

“I thought Islanders weren’t supposed to feel desires until their first night of marriage,” Meiqi said. She chuckled as she passed.

Her words hit a target in Hao’s head. He had the same thoughts before and now.

Hao managed not to stare as she walked, purposely flaunting her figure.

Perhaps cultivation has changed something? The First time was with the Second Elder. Or was it before that? Hao tried to collect his memories.

“They aren’t supposed to…” Hao said, noticing his use of ‘they’.

Meiqi turned sideways as she walked, looking at Hao with a smile highlighting a crease on her cheek.

“Perhaps the Young Master is too mighty for whatever concoction was given to him? It could be Young Master has the proclivity of a hero; nothing can stop his pursuit of beauty?” She said, winking one eye, having a laugh with her daughter.

Hao preferred it when Meiqi talked like this; seriousness may make someone attractive but people who could laugh were enjoyable to be around.

Mother’s, and Father’s, my laughter got scorn. Another invading thought.

Hao’s shame grew, wrapping his knuckles as he watched the two women rushing around, doing extra work so he could burn bodies faster. There was an odd mix of feelings in Hao, to say the least. A knot in his heart and stomach, harder to lock away than any anger.

Watching Zhengqi, a nearly middle-aged woman sweating in the summer sun chopping firewood, while he stood there was damaging to his ego and beliefs. An unpleasant feeling, whether the sight was pleasant or not.

I have to do my part. I’m more than just a name for them to use, more than the value given to me by the Sect’s rules…

Hao was starting to trust the women and felt he had to prove that he was something more than a temporary shield. Something more than the labels the Island gave him, but he already proved them right by taking human life.

Hao had to help them not only for them but for himself. Taking a step forward in his spotless, pretty white shoes, he could feel the warmth of the hot stone floor through them.

He would have helped anyway, but his urge to do so was mounting with every moment. Things were piling on him, a single neat stack that had been growing since the day he opened his eyes and found reality.

The wood was piling in two. Hao walked over and took some of the wood, placing it in the bucket.

Zhengqi saw him and threw down the axe to her side. “Young Master, please, you don’t have to.” Her respectful words were full of kindness.

“Don’t worry, I’ll try not to mess anything up…” Hao said.

“Young Master misunderstands… This work is below you,” Zhengqi said. She stammered as she spoke, slow to give a reason as she was surprised by his words; How could Young Master, a cultivator, mess up stacking wood? She thought—not daring to convey them in words.

“Young Master should spend his time cultivating.”

“It’s fine—and I am not sure I know how to cultivate further,” Hao said. His words were more hesitant than hers. His mood went on a downward slope as he thought of the men in his bag. One of them was still partially alive. Cultivator to get stronger, be stronger to survive.

Uniquely, Hao also felt great. The wood he carried had no weight, his body was coursing with world energy. He absorbed more as he stood. He had only assumptions on his path of cultivation going forward, and his World Energy absorption was faster when meditated. A different World Energy went into his body when he ate.

“Young Master still has to temper his body until he can freely touch the energy that makes the world,” Zhengqi said.

“I am already there.”

“Truly!?” Zhengqi’s face was a rainbow, glittering eyes and pouty lips.

She does not believe me, well I know little to nothing and I doubt it myself. He felt he had to show it to himself, another reminder, more than just the senses being improved.

Hao took one of the unsplit logs. With a squeeze and pull, his fingers turned bark to dust, ripping the fibers apart. The log was split with a gross amount of effort, but he could do it.

Hao didn’t know when Meiqi started to watch as well, both mother and daughter wearing faces of eager surprise. The same face as when they tried to perform the servitude ceremony. Their faces made hao feel a little pride.

“This is even more reason Young Master should cultivate. Young Master aptitude must be…” Zhengqi said, her words hurried, her hands almost clapping.

“Let the Young Master do as he wishes. His willingness to work shows his character, and so does his cultivation speed,” Meiqi said, a humble yell down the courtyard. Her face looked like she won the lottery.

“Young Master should keep his cultivation only slightly quiet. You may find benefits in people not knowing your full strength.”

Their joy and discretion made Hao want to trust them even more.

The work moved at an even greater pace. Zhengqi helped Meiqi collect stuff from the buildings. The clinking of vases and splash of water was now near constant.

Even then, it was hard to race the day as noon approached.

Hao could have split the wood with his hands like before, but doing it with the axe was faster and easier. He was not that big of a fool.

He split dozens of logs a minute, feeling an urge to rush himself. He had other things to check on, wanting to get rid of the bodies first.

The noon sun will help hide the smoke as well.

Hao was starting to think that Zhengqi’s words were accurate about this work being below him. It felt trivial, and he thought it was potentially foolish compared to the meditation he could be doing.

But he did not mind. It took several minutes, and he was done. Finishing up also felt disappointing; It felt like he was in the mine again. The tedium of the task helped him think.

He carried the wood himself, using the spirit bag to take most of what he cut. Leaving a messy pile of spare cuts on the courtyard, outside of the door where they slept and ate.

The two women passed him. He could hear the struggle in their lungs; they were out of breath.

Hao looked between them, and the sun approaching noon; the heat was gathering. Of the two, Meiqi fared better but was breathing heavily as well.

“How much is left?” Hao asked.

Both women stopped in place.

“Two rows of buildings, the one that is facing the path, and the one behind us…” Meiqi said, gasping for air between words.

“Rest. I will gather it all. Just tell me what I need.”

“That would be inappropriate, Young Master.”

Hao raised his hand and stopped her. “I can do it faster. If the fire burns at noon, there will be fewer people to see and the sun will help hide the smoke from keener than mortal eyes,” Hao said.

“Young Master has cleverness beyond his age, but still…”

“You won’t be able to answer the question I have if you have to fight for your breath,” Hao said.

Before they said much more, he found a patch of red. Blood in a stain on one of the floors.